Are you careful or fearful? Sometimes they are hard to tell apart. Here are some differences:

1) Careful is thoughtful; fearful is emotional.

2) Careful is fueled by information; fearful is fueled by imagination.

3) Careful calculates risk; fearful avoids risk.

4) Careful wants to achieve success; fearful wants to avoid failure.

5) Careful is concerned about progress; fearful is concerned about protection.

Thinking these differences through can help us to be careful, but not fearful. Remember, “God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Tags: courage, fear

We just received news that Rev. Jack Whitesell has passed away and his funeral was Saturday. Jack Whitesell was a church growth consultant who made many visits to our church and is directly responsible for much of the growth in our church and myself personally. He resided in San Francisco and was in demand in church denominational conferences nationwide.

I remember on one occasion he and I were meeting in the lobby of the Auburn Inn. He was asking me questions to discern what my gifting was as a leader. He had a little chart he was working through and I scored at the bottom as a leader. I remember he bowed his head a bit and looked at me over the top of his glasses. “And how many people did you start with?” he asked. 

I replied, “About 40″. “And how many are attending now?” I gave him the answer and he shook his head. “Something’s not adding up,” he said.

My definition of a leader was one who barked orders to others, so I was answering his questions from that perspective. I had to learn that servant-leadership is also an effective leadership style. On another occasion he recommended that our church do something that was not in our comfort range. “I don’t think I’d like that,” I replied. “Of course not!” he retorted.

Jack Whitesell is also the one who coined the phrase, “Its not about our convenience, but for their conversion.” He will be missed.

Yesterday Anita and I drove to Indianapolis and visited Bill and Teresea Nelson. Bill is a Hepatitis C patient at Indiana University Medical Center. He was scheduled to have a heart catherization to see if he is strong enough to be placed on a liver transplant list. If he cannot get a liver transplant, he will likely not survive.

Teresea has been pretty well alone down there for several days and wasted no time venting to us all the news. We took her out for lunch, and I thought I was always the last one done eating; today I finished long before Teresea because she couldn’t stop talking. We found Bill weak but in good spirits. We encouraged each other, sang some old songs we used to sing together, and prayed for him.

Because of the chemical imbalance caused by the disease, or perhaps the medications he was taking, his mind seems to be stuck back about 5-15 years ago. He remembered old memories like they were yesterday, but can’t remember yesterday. It was good to see him laugh again.

By the way, he passed the test with flying colors.

In watching Teresea care for her husband, I was very impressed. For nine years she has patiently stood by his side as she watched his health (and their finances) deteriorate. But she has never turned her back on him. Her example inspires me to a greater commitment to Anita.

Who have you watched stand by their spouse through hard times?

Tags: caregiver, memory

A children’s wading pool in an East Coast inner-city neighborhood had been closed for two years. City workers finally painted the pool, filled it with water, and opened it to the delight of excited children.

A short time later, though, neighborhood parents were furious. Eighteen children had cuts on their feet! It seems the pool hadn’t been cleaned out before it was painted. The workmen had merely spray-painted over glass debris on the pool bottom.

The harm done by these city workers is like the damage done by the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They made cover-up into an art. They dressed for success. They knew how to make good impressions. But on the inside they were phony. Jesus called them “whited walls”: sepulchers looking pretty on the outside, but full of dead men’s bones on the inside.

Jesus also said, “All their works they do to be seen by men” (Matthew 23:5). What does this mean to you?

Tags: cover-up, genuine, Pharisees

Carl Sagan was a scientist who popularized the naturalistic worldview which teaches that there is no god. One consequence of Sagan’s belief’s was that he was actively committed to the cause of animal rights, especially a refusal to use animals for medical testing. Such a logical stance was based on the belief that humans evolved from animals so there can be no intrinsic difference between them.

Parade magazine quoted Sagan as saying, “I have tried to show how closely related we are to other animals, how cruel it is to gratuitously inflict pain on them.”

In 1994, Carl Sagan was diagnosed with a rare blood disease. His only hope of extending his life beyond a few months was an experimental bone-marrow transplant. However, Sagan stood face to face with his own belief system. This potentially life-saving procedure had been developed by research on animals – the kind that Sagan adamantly opposed.

When faced with death, Sagan turned his back on his religion and chose to have the procedure. He admitted that the decision was very difficult, but when faced with choosing life or death, he had to realize that man does have more worth than the rest of creation.

What do you believe about creation?

Tags: creation, sanctity of human life, scientist

The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene was too thick to get any good shots, so he frantically called his home office to hire a plane.

“It will be waiting for you at the airport!” he was assured by his editor. As soon as he got to the small, rural airport, he noticed a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s Go!”

The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air. “Fly over the north side of the fire,” said the photographer, “and make three or four low level passes.”

“Why?” asked the pilot.

“Because I’m going to take pictures! I’m a photographer, and photographers take pictures!” said the photographer with great exasperation and impatience.

After a long pause the pilot said, “You mean you’re not the instructor?”

Sometimes we seek advice or assistance from people who are in position to help anybody. I used to work with a lady who had been through three failed marriages. People were asking her for advice on their own marriage. If the Word of God doesn’t give clear counsel on your situation, at least seek counsel from someone you know has sound advice.

When have you last seen someone seek counsel from the wrong person.

Tags: advice, counsel